Dennis Connors ’15 didn’t intend to go to Emerson College. When he was a high school senior in Sayreville, New Jersey, Connors made a deal with his mother that if he could get hired to act in a film or theatre production, he wouldn’t have to enroll in school. He got a callback for The Book of Mormon. He didn’t get the part.

A Theatre Studies major, Connors says he is excited to attend Emerson Los Angeles because of the many opportunities available in Hollywood. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the ability to have so many alumni and networking connections is just something I could not pass up,” said Connors, who is a casting intern at Disney ABC Entertainment Group. For his internship, Connors will help to cast different pilots, something he hopes will give him insight into the audition process. Casting for big roles is something he has previous experience doing. As a junior at Emerson, Connors was on the committee to find Emerson Los Angeles’ founding director. He got to interview candidates and voice his opinions, providing the committee with a student’s perspective.

Now, for the first time, Connors will be in Los Angeles to meet Emerson Los Angeles Founding Director Kevin Bright ’76, H’11 and live in the facilities he’s admired in photos. “I have so many friends who have graduated in the past couple of years who are working in LA,” said Connors. “It gives me hope and confidence that I can make my career happen in Los Angeles.”

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Emerson Los Angeles is the ideal location to achieve your personal and professional goals. With an extensive internship program and countless career development opportunities, a semester at ELA will give you the tools necessary to succeed in your chosen field.

Emerson Los Angeles provides a variety of resources for individuals hoping to expand their skills, explore new interests, or make career changes. Designed to meet the needs of working individuals, ELA’s professional studies program will help you take your career to the next level.

Emerson Los Angeles:
Your Stage, Spotlight, and Springboard.

Although Emerson Los Angeles officially celebrated its grand opening in March 2014, the College’s Los Angeles program has been in existence since 1986.

The ELA building has won acclaim and more than a dozen awards, including the 2014 Grand Prize for the Los Angeles Business Council's Architectural Awards, the American Institute of Architects’ California Council Merit Award, the Westside Urban Forum Design Award, and the Bentley Be Inspired Award for Innovation in Comprehensive BIM.

Emerson Los Angeles is a communications, arts, and entertainment powerhouse in California. More than 4,300 students have already participated in the ELA program and more than 4,000 alumni live in the LA area.

ELA’s stunning architecture has been recently featured on TV shows such Scandal, Brooklyn 99, and Extant. ELA has also been featured in several photography shoots for companies like Lululemon and Mary Kay Cosmetics, among others.

Emerson College, which is based in Boston, was the first East Coast college to establish a residential study and internship program in Los Angeles.